In The Refiner's Fire

 Ah, yes. Goals.  We're actually doing pretty good with several things.  The kids are really getting into the whole chores routine - which we as parents love!  The kids are loving the "extra" time that it gives Mom and Dad to spend with them, not to mention the time spent on the chores themselves. We've gotten a lot of things that weren't on the list done too:  new edging put around several flower beds (we still have more to go, but it looks great in the meantime!), several functions at the church John is working at, VBS for the kids, and getting a huge chunk of my sewing/craft area cleaned out (LOVE that!). Here's the list from 2 weeks ago. Work: * Finish outlining my first units for each class I'm teaching. (This is almost done - 2 units for one class left to go!) School: * Finish going through interview transcripts (Almost done with this too!) Jazzercise: * Teach class 3x * Put together 1 new set * Learn new Opener Home: * Catch up iron...

Our homemade Vanilla Ice Cream from the 4th of July (thus the red tablecloth). I think time officially got away from me a bit!  We've been getting a lot done, having a lot of fun, and spending a lot of time together as a family!  LOVE that.  Now if the weather would just cooperate for getting the outside work done, life would be about as close to perfect as it can get!  :)    We still have about a pint of the ice cream in the freezer - that recipe made a TON of ice cream; or at least way more than we expected.  I'm not sure I would call making the ice cream "frugal" - we don't have cream on hand regularly and we drink skim, rather than 2% or whole milk, so we had to buy those for a total of about $8.  The good news is that a little of this ice cream goes a lot farther than the store bought stuff - seriously yummy! Anyway, what are we eating this week?  Here we go: Sunday, July 15:   Breakfast: Cold Cereal and Mi...

We're still at the no-picture edition - sigh.  I really do need to get that camera battery replaced. Or figure out how to take tolerable photos with my iPod. :) We had some "extra" money left after buying groceries last week ($25 + change) so we bought ahead some sausage for our camping trip later this summer and some bacon as well.  Yum.  I also took advantage of the Kellogg's deal (8/$20) and received coupons for a free gallon of milk and free dozen eggs on a future visit.  Milk runs anywhere from $1.99-$5.00/gallon here and eggs run about $1.50, so that's a savings of at least $3.50 on a future visit to the store!  Plus, since the milk coupon is good up to $3.50, I can buy the Kemps brand and save the top for our kids' school!  I'm hoping to do a "Pantry Challenge" month in August and really take stock of things around the house here. I guess in the meantime, since this month is rather crazy, I'm not being quite as careful as I could be ...

Sooo, Goals.  Last weeks proved to be a bit too much.  We had some serious issues come up that we had to deal with (and we may be dealing with them for a while), it's been beastly hot here (heat advisories several days in the last week) and we've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  So, in the midst of all that, how did I do last week? Not terrible, certainly.  I wish I'd gotten more done, but it's really, really nice to look at this list and see how much I really did accomplish last week. Work: * Finish outlining my first units for each class I'm teaching. (Didn't finish this but about halfway done.) * Write up a list of things I need to make (or have the shop make) for my new class.  School: * Email 3 professors * Finish going through interview transcripts (Still working on this - getting closer though!) * Cross 2 other things off my dissertation to-do list (Got one of the two things done.) Jazzercise: * Set for first cl...

Yummm - port loin, broccoli-cauliflower salad and fruit! I'm anxiously awaiting broccoli and cauliflower to be in season so we can make this again... okay, maybe not so patiently. ***GRIN*** We didn't eat anything that exciting last week at all. In fact, a lot of our menu planning last week was quite a flop. It was really hot, we had some unexpected things pop up and we ended up not being home one night at all when we thought we would be. I guess those things do happen don't they? Anyway, here's what we're eating this week: Sunday, July 1:    Breakfast:  Cereal and Milk    Lunch: Out with friends    Snack:  Yogurt    Dinner:  Salad with Ham, Strawberries, and Grapes Monday, July 2:    Breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Craisons    Lunch: Hot Lunch at Camp for Kids, Leftovers for Mom and Dad    Snack: Popcorn    Dinner:  PB&J Sandwiches, Fruit Tuesday, July 3: ...